These days, my schedule doesn’t give me much time for dog-walks here in Keene. On Fridays through Mondays, Reggie and I walk in Newton, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I teach all day at Keene State. So Wednesday has become my default Walking Day, my one weekly chance to take a leisurely look at Keene on foot.
Inspired by Leslee’s Halloween post, today I set out to snap something appropriately seasonal. The homes in Newton have been decked with skeletons, mock tombstones, and witches for weeks, but for some reason I haven’t taken any pictures; it must be my lingering reticence to take pictures of other people’s lives.
This morning here in Keene, I didn’t find much that struck me as photo-worthy. Yes, there’s a funny Red-Sox-loving scarecrow on Water Street, and yes, downtown merchants have the usual pumpkins and black-hatted mannequins in their windows. But Halloween in Keene has always felt anticlimactic compared to the annual Pumpkin Festival that happens a week earlier; how can an occasional pumpkin or black cat compare with more than 20,000 lit jack-o’-lanterns? This year, for the first time since 2003, I missed the Pumpkin Festival by going to a Bruins game, so I’ve been feeling photographically deprived, my usually brimming October photo-archive feeling thin instead.
This morning as Reggie and I took our Wednesday walkabout, nothing jumped up and grabbed me; nothing screamed “photograph me, I’m worthy!” And then I saw the first of the morning’s alien eyes.
I suppose it’s appropriate I’d see on Halloween several examples of the gleaming, X-shaped window reflections I call “alien eyes.” If aliens have indeed descended to shine their intelligent eyes on earthlings, what better day to start one’s extraterrestrial investigation than a day devoted to the odd and unusual?
Whereas in the past, I’ve seen alien eyes only on the sides of commercial buildings, this morning I saw examples on a handful of residential homes on Marlboro Street: a pretty plain Jane destination to travel across the universe for.
Of course, the whole message of alien eyes–if said aliens came to this galaxy to impart a lesson–is that the supernatural nests in the natural just as the extraordinary imbues the ordinary. After seeing the first of this morning’s alien eyes downtown, I was on the lookout for them closer to home; after seeing the first one on a plain-sided house, I quickly spotted another across the street, then another next door.
This afternoon on the way from the laundromat to the post office and then gas station–this afternoon, in other words, on my way from one chore to another–I saw two witches, a wizard, a bride, and a couple of cats-in-the-hat strolling downtown streets. Wednesday is my one day for walking Keene streets, and Halloween is our one day for walking with the weird. The lesson of alien eyes, like that of Halloween, is that there is magic among us if only we have eyes to see.
Oct 31, 2007 at 7:00 pm
The alien eyes are so weird. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them, but maybe I passed by without noticing. Anyway, glad you found some to make your hunt for spooky October worthwhile. I felt a little less reluctant than usual to take my photos since people had gone to such effort to decorate for Halloween I figured they might appreciate the attention. Unfortunately, I scheduled an appointment after work today, so I missed out on the trick or treaters in my new neighborhood, except those I took pains not to run over on my way home in the dark.
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Oct 31, 2007 at 7:44 pm
The best time to see alien eyes seems to be when the sun is either coming up or setting. It’s an issue of angle: the light has to fall obliquely so it reflects off at least one window onto a nearby wall. If the sun is directly overhead, you won’t see alien eyes.
Thank goodness you didn’t run over any Costumed Cuties. I have a burned-out porch light, so even though I’ve been sitting here doing teaching tasks, no one knew I was home. 😦
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Nov 1, 2007 at 12:34 am
Alien eyes are a new phenomenon to me — I shall be on the lookout for them on my next evening walk, tho my sun sets behind the hills a good 45 minutes to one hour before true sunset.
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Nov 3, 2007 at 8:36 am
AN EXCELLENT PHOTOGRAPH. NOW, ABOUT YOUR OBSERVATION CONCERNING THE ABSENCE OF THE GLOW IN THE LEFT BOTTOM WINDOW.YOU WILL NOTE THAT THE WINDOW WAS RAISED JUST A BIT, PERHAPS TO KEEP YOUR ALIEN NEIGHBOR AT A COOL BODY TEMPERATURE. IT WAS THIS SHORT CIRCUIT OF THE IMAGE THAT DEPRIVED THE WINDOW OF ITS GLOW. THAT IS TO SAY, HAD THAT ALIEN NOT ELEVATED THE WINDOW, YOUR VIEW WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER; YOUR PHOTO WOULD HAVE BEEN UNIFORM. THE ALIEN, BY RAISING THE WINDOW, SACRIFIED SECURITY FOR COMFORT.
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Nov 3, 2007 at 8:40 am
CORRECTION: the word should have been sacrificed, not SACRIFIED
THE ALIEN, BY RAISING THE WINDOW, SACRIFICED SECURITY FOR COMFORT.
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Nov 23, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Ooops, guess this comment page doesn’t allow HTML links. So I’d leave the url to my entry…
http://photoscitymine.blogspot.com/2007/11/alien-xs.html
Mari-Nanci
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Nov 23, 2007 at 5:31 pm
Thank you for coining the term of ‘Alien-Eyes.’ I finally sort-of got a shot of it. And it’s on my <a href=”http://photoscitymine.blogspot.com/2007/11/alien-xs.htmlPhotos-City-Mine blog.
Mari-Nanci
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